I can’t believe that tomorrow kicks off a new week once again. This year seems to be passing me by so quickly already! I’m so behind on replying to emails (will reply soon I promise) and checking out my Bloglines. I’m finding that whatever spare moment I have is consumed with trying to get through my crafting To-Do list before my maternity leave ends, and I re-join the workforce in a week’s time.

Here are two more collages.

Red Bird, Blue Apple: Mixed Media, 25cm x 25cm, found & vintage ephemera, found & vintage buttons, acrylic paints, black ink, sequins, black frame.

The bird is hand-drawn and is based on a particular bird motif found in this book. Not sure why the colour looks so washed out in the images but the non-red buttons are actually aqua and baby-blue in colour.

Never Letting Go: Mixed Media, 25cm x 25cm, new paper, found & vintage ephemera, found & vintage buttons, acrylic paints, black ink, cotton string, black frame.

These collages (and another I am currently working on) will be available in The Great Green Room in the near future. Shiloh and Shazaam the Pirate Shmerpi are now also available at The Great Green Room.

Hope you’re all having a wonderful weekend!

A few friends have returned from the Art-Stuffed Plush Show and Morphe II. They have enjoyed visiting new places and rubbing shoulders with a wonderful range of soft toys :-) but are now looking for new, more permanent homes.

Othello and Oberon (Quilted Patchwork Owls) and Quilted Patchwork Seahorse #4 are now available in my shop. More photos can be found in my Other Crafty Bits Set on Flickr.

Shiloh the Shmerpi and Shazaam the Shmerpi Pirate will soon be available at The Great Green Room. More photos of each can be found in my Shmerpi Creatures Set on Flickr.

Here’s a view of the floor in my studio - a few more Shmerpi creatures in progress.

Thank you to all of you for your encouraging (and humorous!) comments on my last post :-)

And thank you so much to Shae over at Madame Butterfly Gallery for featuring me on her gorgeous website - you can read my interview by clicking Creative Cabinet in the bottom menu on her site and following the link to The Creative Type Interview.

Happy Australia Day for tomorrow to all the Aussies! Sorry for the sketchy post - must go now and kick off a day of celebrations with my eldest girl, Ava, who turns 3 today!

Thanks so much once again for your comments on the previous post - your kindness is truly overwhelming at times and I do thank you for your encouragement :-)

Well, my plans for the week were completely overtaken by a need to make myself 2 new tops :-) When I saw this post by the fabulous Nikki, I knew that I just had to try the pattern (Simplicity 4589). Nevermind that I had never sewn my own clothes before! It was a refreshing challenge. The trickiest part for me was attaching the sleeves - I probably had to unpick those stitches 4 or 5 times, but I kept at it and am happy with the result - mostly happy that I have finally found a size 12 that actually fits me properly!

Here’s top 1 (yet un-hemmed), made form a simple black/white floral cotton print:

And worn:

And here’s top2 (also un-hemmed), made from this gorgeous owl print from Superbuzzy:

And worn:

Also, soft-toy artists Dawn and Kate both tagged me with the latest meme doing the blog rounds - “6 weird things about myself“. Okay, so here goes:

1) I can never leave dirty dishes in the sink or Ava’s toys on the floor at night before bed - it all has to be cleaned up no matter how long it takes. When I wake in the morning and see the toys in their place and the dishes clean and ready to be used, it brings a great sense of peace to my day!

2) Wearing socks is a big thing for me - I always have to wear socks, even if it’s really, really hot - which then means I always end up wearing long pants of some kind because I don’t like the short-pants & socks combo.

3) I do believe in the super-natural, simply because I have experienced such things first-hand like doors opening on their own, and lights/appliances switching on and off by themselves. My parents, who grew up in haunted villages in the Philippines, have spoken of their first-hand accounts with the little men with red eyes who live in banana trees, and strangers in the street who have no feet (i.e. they are just floating along). Seriously, some of their stories are worse than today’s horror movies - but I won’t go on just in case it’s all starting to freak you out.

4) On a lighter note, with all the wonderful choice we have in chocolate today, I still prefer a big old block of Cadbury :-)

5) People always comment on how long my fingers are - it’s something I inherited from my Mum’s side of the family. It certainly helps when playing instruments, which I did when I was younger; and definitely helps me to type faster. But it sure makes hand-stitching very awkward and cumbersome!

6) And finally, you may have noticed that I do not have any pictures of my face on this blog. For the longest time, I was insecure about my appearance and even though I have accepted the skin that I’m in so to speak, when I meet new people, I am still always so nervous about how they react to me. As a child, I was bullied and teased frequently - mostly because of the way I looked - so I think that gut reaction to just hide behind something else continues. But I think your ongoing support, kindness and encouragement has given me a little more confidence to share a little more of myself with you. So here I am.

Yes, that is a birthmark on the left-side of my face. The weird thing is that it actually changes colour depending on the weather! It turns purplish when it’s cold and turns orangy-red when it’s hot. I like to view it as God’s ‘handmade’ stamp on me :-)

Hope you enjoyed getting to know a little bit more about me :-) I’m tagging the first 6 people who left a comment on my previous post: Abby, Violet, Shell, Kristy, Dana, Myra (apologies ladies if you’ve already done this meme!).

That was a longer blogging hiatus than I had planned! I have enjoyed taking a little break from cyberspace to catch up with friends, prepare for work next month, and to undertake preparations for Ava’s first day at pre-school (also next month). But it sure is good to get back! If I owe you an email, thanks for your patience - I hope to reply to you very soon :-)

I haven’t had much time to work on more complex craft projects but I have managed to complete these little elephant pillows:

1) Winfred is made of acrylic suiting, wool felt, various cotton fabrics, and a cute elephant trim.

2) Claudine is made of wool-blend herringbone, wool felt, various cotton fabrics, and a sweet trim called “Delicious” by Shinzi Katoh.

They are both currently available in the shop with additional photos.

The following simple softies have been made with a simple purpose in mind - to be hugged! They are sized to fit perfectly in toddler arms :-) and have embroidered and appliqued features. They are both clutching their own security blankets :-) You may notice that they are loosely based on my Baby Chibi Girls.

1) Little huggable Green Rabbit is made of mint-green polar fleece, cotton prints and embroidery floss.

2) And little huggable Pink Cat is made of pink polar fleece, vintage cotton prints and embroidery floss.

They will both be available in the shop tonight. Next on the list is a Happy Chibi Girl for Ava, who turns 3 in a few days - right after I spend a few hours catching up on my Bloglines!

[Update: The Little Huggable Rabbit & Cat are now up in the shop :-)]

I can’t believe how fast the week has gone! Thanks so much for your comments on Sabrine the Shmerpi - she’s on the flight to her new home as I write :-)

I’ve had my head buried in memory boxes recently. I’ve found a renewed passion for mixed-media collages this new year. I continue to adore the collages Lisa creates and have been inspired by Shell’s new collage project. Then there’s the wonderful Dawbis, Michelle Caplan, Chelsea Groves, Angela Petsis, and the list goes on - so much creativity and inspiration, and such different approaches to collage!

It also helped that I won a bunch of vintage miniature feathered birds and a small box of vintage photos from eBay :-) I love the miniature birds so much that I decided to embark on a Bird-in-box collage series. Not sure how many I’ll end up making but at this point in time, I have enough materials to at least make 20 (!). We’ll see how we go.

I have to admit that I’m really enjoying the freedom of collage - using different materials and textures; ripping and cutting; gluing and painting. Unbelieveable fun!

So here are 3 from the series that are in progress. All are untitled at this time. (Apologies for the shonky images - it sure is hard to photograph these boxes!)

#1: Vintage ephemera, vintage Japanese image, acrylic paints, black ink, brass charm, vintage miniature feathered bird in feathered ring.

#2: Patterned paper, vintage ephemera, vintage Japanese image, lace, acrylic paints, brass charm, vintage miniature feathered bird.

#3: Handmade textured paper, printed vellum, vintage ephemera, acrylic paints, metal charm, vintage miniature feathered birds

The memory boxes are yet to be sanded, stained and varnished. If you would like to know when they will be available for sale, please subscribe to the mailing list. New elephant pillows will also be added to the shop in the coming week.

I will be on a blogging break for the next week - my best friend (since Year 7!) and her hubby and daughter will be staying with us for a few days and we’ve all got a lot of catching up to do. See you in a week’s time!

P.S. A shout out to my brother Josh and his band, Carnation, who are charting well on the Brit Pop charts on MP3.com :-)

Managed to get away from the hustle and bustle for a few hours and finish a custom order Shmerpi - can’t believe this is my 20th Shmerpi creature!

Please meet Sabrine and her little monkey friend :-)

The main requirements were pink/brown colour scheme (with a bit of aqua if possible) and a red monkey. The red monkey was a little challenging and the little lace skirt was a last minute decision :-) I couldn’t find any aqua fabric in my stash that I was happy with so I chose the cute pea-green dotty fabric with little brown birds. I used some of my most favourite trim around her waist - tiny toadstools (from Reprodepot).

My little bub is just about to wake up from her (fitful) afternoon nap, but before I go I wanted to say:

• So good to see the Notebook & Pencil Holders made by Tutti Frutti and 2Paw
• Enjoying these blogs:
• GreetingArts
• Luckybeans
• High Up in the Trees

And thanks to Ellia for incorporating a little Chibi Doll into her latest cut-paper art piece!

Ok, gotta go - I’m sure I forgot a to list a few other blogs but hope to share more before the end of this week!

What a great response to the giveaway!!! Thanks so much for your kind words - it’s good to know that the little pink elephant is liked so much :-)

Since each comment recieved on the previous post was assigned a number, I wrote the numbers on bits of paper and tossed them into a hat. While Ava was happily painting away this morning, I managed to get her to pull a number out of the hat. Can you see what number she pulled out (it’s on her big painting bib)?

It’s number 21! So congrats to Sarah of Blondebabypeaches! Sarah, I will be sending an email to you shortly asking for your postal address.

I will definitely be having more giveaways this year as well as pursuing other craft goals for 2007 like: making clothes for my girls and for winter, a coat just like this for Ava; focusing on more Shmerpi creatures and Chibi dolls, and expanding on the quilted patchwork soft toys; getting back into collages, both mixed media and fabric collages; more digital drawing & prints; and dabbling in baby-accessory-type crafts.

I’ve had little chance to make anything over the last few days - the girls are much better but are not sleeping well, various family festivities are on the calendar, and guests will be dropping by in the next 2 weeks. I think life will get back to normal by the end of this month!